


On the Brink

by miss_aligned



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Mass Effect 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-18 08:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7308022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_aligned/pseuds/miss_aligned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(A multi-chapter fic? From me? Say it ain't so!)</p><p>Cerberus has first-hand knowledge of exactly how Commander Shepard was rebuilt, and they use that information to their full advantage, much to the chagrin of the Normandy crew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Nothing? No response at all?” Shepard sighed heavily as she adjusted her armor and prepared to move. “I thought you said you had real people calling.”

“Sounded real enough to me,” Joker responded. “If it was another false alarm, it was a hell of a good one.”

“I think we’ve been in enough ambushes to know where this is headed,” the Major quietly commented.

“There are organic signatures on the station,” EDI chimed in. “I’m having difficulty identifying their origin or exact number. It would be best to use caution.”

“Alriiiiight,” James acknowledged with a small grin creeping across his lips. “Sounds like this might get interesting.”

“Interesting. That’s one way to describe it, I suppose,” Kaidan answered as he stared at the door, clearly curious and wary of what might rest on the other side.

“Oh come on, you make it seem like we can’t handle a trap,” Shepard said as she gently shoved him with her shoulder. “It’s just like old times!”

The other Spectre chuckled. “That’s what has me worried.”

Three figures stepped forward into the dark, strangely quiet station, waiting and watching for signs of danger. Shepard took point, as she commonly did, waving an arm forward to signal her intent. The air was breathable, there was no stench or smoke of note, and no alarms were sounding. So far, so good. All except that they’d arrived to lend aid and the people who made the distress call should have been there to meet them, of course.

James and Kaidan took extra care to quickly inspect any open spaces on either side of the hall as they quietly crept down the long docking passage. Moving as efficiently as they were, it wasn’t likely that anything would escape the awareness of the trio of seasoned soldiers.

The Commander paused at the final door which, by their best guess, would lead them to the station proper. Quickly overriding the security panel, she signaled her teammates to cover before hoisting her gun up in front of her body. No matter how many times he saw it, that sight of Shepard at the ready always seemed to impress James. He always relied on size and strength to intimidate while she managed it with attitude and confidence. Incredible.

The door slid open to reveal more empty, silent space. Despite the normal, non-emergency lighting and gentle hum of equipment maintaining the life support, something about this situation made the Lieutenant a little uneasy. Where was everyone? Why, if someone needed aid, had they not revealed themselves yet?

The station was large. Once it had served as something of a storage hub for supplies and trade, but had since been repurposed as a research facility, if reports were correct. Thus, most of the rooms were cavernous and tall, but interspersed with desks and equipment and little else that required such vast overhead clearance.

The Commander paused periodically to check her omni-tool and verify what she was seeing. She managed to trace wiring and conduit around a corner, likely in an effort to locate some sort of hub of control or communication. James understood that if no one could be found there, then it would at least give them a better picture of what was happening with the station.

“Oh god,” Shepard muttered as she turned the corner into the open room and laid eyes upon absolute carnage. Several bodies rested there, some sitting in chairs and hunched over controls. One even had hands on the communication console. Others had fallen to the floor or had huddled in the corner in an unsuccessful attempt to hide and protect themselves. They were all human. They were all dead with blood still seeping from bullet wounds or deep slices across the throat. From the look of things, Joker was right. It had been a real call from people in need of help.

“What the hell?” James dropped his assault rifle for a moment to scratch his head as he surveyed the grizzly scene. “What’s going on? These are fresh.”

“Yeah,” Kaidan agreed. “Not more than an hour, by my guess.”

“There,” Shepard growled as she pointed at one of the few still-functioning monitors. Several nearly identical figures emblazoned with distinctive colors and symbols raced through the frame. The last one turned and fired, causing the screen to go blank. “Cerberus.”

“Of course,” Kaidan answered with a heavy sigh. “You know, they kill an awful lot of humans for an organization bent on human dominance of the galaxy.”

“As one of their favorite targets, I have to agree,” Shepard responded with a slow shake of her head. “Let’s go. I think we need to head out this way to catch up with them.”

Taking the same formation they’d adopted before, the Alliance soldiers headed out after their enemies, ready to settle the score on behalf of the recently deceased innocents. Regardless of what they were aiming to accomplish, it was an understood rule that anything Cerberus-related had to be stopped.

“Maybe they’re after some research? Something that would help with the Crucible?” The Major’s words sounded hopeful, but unsure.

“You know, if that was the case, then I don’t understand why they don’t just help us build the damn thing rather than getting in our way every five minutes,” Shepard hissed.

“Seems like the avenue might be similar but the end goals are different enough to rule out any sort of collaboration. That’s disturbing. I’m not sure I want to know what they’re really trying to do,” Kaidan commented with a shake of his head.

“Maybe they just want to be the ones to claim that they saved everyone. They’re trying to cut us off before we can do it,” James added, honestly hoping that it was such a simple explanation. He didn’t feel comfortable considering something more sinister or ridiculous.

“Best not to dwell on it. It’s better to stop it from happening in the first place,” Shepard answered. She brought her gun up and held it at the ready as they entered an area that was recognizable from the monitors they’d been watching. Cerberus operatives had passed through here not long ago, and it was very possible that some of them remained.

James was just about to ask if a re-evaluation of the situation was in order when a slight shuffling noise caught his attention. He had just enough time to wave his teammates down and signal them to get behind cover before a barrage of gunfire and targeting beams.

“Well, we found them,” Kaidan said with a vaguely amused smirk.

Yay,” Shepard flatly replied as she prepared to line up a few shots of her own.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team notices something strange about their opponents' behavior. Shepard goes toe-to-toe with a Cerberus operative and things take a turn for the worse.

“Something seems weird here,” Shepard commented as she ducked, allowing a distinct red beam to sail harmlessly over her head.

“Yeah, they’re up to something,” Kaidan answered as he crept further forward, carefully remaining behind cover.

“You mean other than the ambush using innocent people as bait?” James muttered. He was still rather enraged at the sight that had greeted them upon entering this station. They’d been set up and the scene they’d discovered had been barbaric. “Say it ain’t so.”

“Usually there are troopers or guardians in my face by now, but all I see are nemeses. They must think pretty highly of their sniper skills, unless they’re up to something else,” Shepard whispered as she dared to peer around the wall and nearly had her head taken off by a shot.

“Well, better get rid of them, then,” Kaidan responded as an aura of blue rippled across his body.

James stretched his neck to the left and right. He rolled his shoulders and prepared to spring from cover. “Ready.”

“Go!” Shepard and the Major moved out of cover in tandem, and it looked like a deadly dance. His hand flew up, blue energy surrounding a handful of snipers suspended in the air as he almost effortlessly directed. She drilled them with shots as they helplessly dangled above, then incinerated a few more with a flick of her wrist. They moved around each other with an alarming fluidity that the enemy would no doubt find horrifying.

James barrelled forward, not intending to let the Spectres have all the fun. He ducked and rolled with grace that belied his hulking frame. Red beams swung to and fro around them as they tore through the station in search for answers.

“Shepard. Phantom.” Kaidan’s words were surprisingly calm, despite the danger at hand.

James skidded to a stop and turned back to see the biotic throw a reave at a figure that seemed to disappear into thin air. The Commander responded by switching weapons and lowering her stance, obviously readying herself for a close range battle to the death. With that look in her eyes, the Lieutenant knew which side he’d put his money on, that was for sure.

It all happened so fast that James barely had time to register what was occurring. The phantom appeared, blade ready and opposite hand outstretched. Shepard launched herself at it, guns blazing. The enemy jumped and rolled, narrowly missing a point-blank shot to the helmet and a kick to the groin. In a moment, there was a clash of metal, an explosion of shields, an omni-blade unfurled, and screams. Oh, the screams.

When it was over, Kaidan stood over two heaps on the ground with horror written in his features. One wasn’t moving at all. The other, with the distinctive striping down her armor, was violently shaking.

The Lieutenant’s eyes widened as he watched, his heart dropping to his toes as the Major called her name and helplessly stood by while tremors wracked her body. Kaidan carefully eased her over onto her side and kicked the lifeless phantom away to give her more space. James, meanwhile, was forced to turn away to deal with more red beams threatening all of them from above.

“It’s okay, Shepard, I’m here,” Kaidan said, his voice heavy with concern. “Wait. No.”

It was only a moment’s pause, but even without looking, James knew there was definitely something wrong. The Commander had never mentioned seizures before. That wasn’t the sort of thing that front line soldiers were prone to carrying in their medical files. Too risky. Perhaps this was her first.

“Don’t you do this, Shepard. Come on, baby, stay with me.” The waver in Kaidan’s voice was telling, indeed. James couldn’t stop to lend the Major any aid until he managed to take down the rest of the snipers. He pressed forward, firing with each step. He sprayed bullets in every location he’d seen a Cerberus operative occupy or caught a hint of movement. Seconds felt like an eternity as he listened over the comms.

“Normandy, Shepard’s down. We need an evac immediately,” Kaidan was clearly trying to keep his panic under control. He whispered then, likely to the ailing woman. “No, no, no, no. Come on, Shepard. Not here. Not now. Stay with me.”

“Copy that,” Joker responded, a concerned edge in his voice. Already, as the helmsman spoke, James could hear the ship’s systems were being engaged for a quick getaway.

The Lieutenant swallowed hard, unable to fathom losing a woman he held in such high esteem. What impact would it have on the war? How would they be able to save this crippled galaxy? Why couldn’t he have protected her? Was everyone on assignment with him destined to die?

Fleeting glances at the nightmarish scene were all James could afford as he pressed on to clear the rest of the enemies. His fury at the situation and his fear surfaced as a barely contained and violent rage, directed squarely at Cerberus. He dragged a nemesis out of hiding by the neck with one arm, using the other to unload a flurry of shots into its torso.

Kaidan waved his omni-tool over Shepard’s stilled form.

The next sniper nearly blinded James with its laser sight, but he managed to duck down just in time. Throwing a grenade in the general vicinity of the offender, he detonated it with some small amount of satisfaction.

Shepard was flat on her back, staring unblinkingly skyward as Kaidan flung her chestplate off to the side.

Another nemesis took aim, this time at the Major as he positioned himself over the fallen Spectre. James hoped that it was a protective stance, but somewhere deep down, he knew it wasn’t. The hulking marine blasted forward and knocked the sniper to the ground before the shot had a chance to hit its mark. A quick couple of bullets of his own and the body stilled under his boot.

Kaidan rhythmically pressed his interlocked hands downward on the Commander’s chest, but she didn’t stir.

“ _Dios, no_ ,” James whispered as he took out his still-building rage on the last nemesis that had taken refuge behind a nearby crate. He drove the butt of his rifle into the side of its helmet before flipping the gun around and firing.

“Sensors indicate that Commander Shepard is currently in cardiac arrest,” EDI’s calm tone announced over the comms.

“I know,” Kaidan hoarsely whispered as he worked tirelessly to help her.

Only as James raced back to join them did he recognize how pale she’d become.

“It appears she was victim of a localized overload, possibly designed to disrupt her cybernetics,” EDI responded, unfazed by the Major’s unsettling response.

“Tali and I are on our way,” Garrus called, the measured waver in his voice clearly conveying that he was running as he was transmitting.

“Major,” James quietly said as he stowed his gun and knelt down next to him. He’d never seen the calm, collected officer so near hysterics. Even when he and Shepard had argued on Mars, he still managed to be surprisingly logical and level-headed. He still was, but only barely. It spoke volumes about the relationship the two had, and the Lieutenant’s chest legitimately and unexpectedly ached at the sight.

Kaidan’s focus rested completely on the prone woman’s glassy stare. Sweat beaded on his brow with the effort he was putting into giving her the chance to wake up again.

“Major,” James called again as he rested a hand on his fellow marine’s shoulder.

“What?” Kaidan spat, casting his desperate gaze in the Lieutenant’s direction for only a split second before concentrating on Shepard once more.

“Let me give you a break,” James calmly suggested, though adrenaline was coursing through his veins to the point that he thought he might jump out of his own skin, he tried to keep it together and remain calm for the sake of his teammates.

“I believe there must still be something nearby causing interference. I’m unable to access anything in her suit or on her person,” EDI explained, heedless to the turmoil both men were currently experiencing.

“Major, let me help you. If you have any skill with electronics, we’re going to need it now. I can do CPR. I can’t do much else in a case like this,” James suggested as he reassuringly patted the biotic’s shoulder.

Reluctantly, Kaidan retreated away from the eerily still form of the Commander, though his eyes were still locked on her as James positioned himself and resumed the same motion at a steady pace.

“Check her,” the Lieutenant breathed. “If something is still messing with her, we have to find it.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaidan struggles to focus, contain his anxiety, and find the root of the problem that has Shepard down for the count.

_Move._

He tore his eyes away from Shepard to quickly scan the area around her. The phantom was dead and had been moved away, but Kaidan wasn’t against kicking it over just a little further to be safe. He did so, perhaps a little harder than was strictly necessary, and huffed indignantly when he could see nothing of note nearby or on the phantom that might have caused the problem that EDI suggested.

_Move._

Kaidan had, of course, had to administer first aid many times on the battlefield. He was trained for that. He knew the steps and understood what had to be done regardless of a dangerous situation, but all of that knowledge and experience flew out the window when it had been the love of his life quivering helplessly at his feet. He swallowed hard to keep his panic at bay while he tended to her needs and tried to figure out what was going wrong.

The Commander, staring blankly towards the ceiling under the steady rhythm of Vega pressing down on her ribcage, seemed so alarmingly small and frail now. Without her larger-than-life personality, armor, and guns, it was a harsh reminder that she was just a person. A human. Even he managed to forget that on occasion.

_**Move.** _

Kaidan set to work unlocking more of Shepard’s armor, aiming to find whatever it was that was causing the issue. He assumed, if EDI had been correct, that something causing this much trouble for Shepard would either be noticeably large if not in her close proximity or it was small and somehow had made it into her armor. If the search didn’t produce something, he wasn’t sure how he could help her, because her clinical signs were far different than anything he’d witnessed in the past. He’d be fruitlessly treating the symptoms and not the cause.

“Here,” Kaidan exclaimed as he noticed an abnormality. “Something slipped in between the plates here, right through the seals.” His finger slid along the juncture of the hip, front, and back plates. Only as he pulled the armor away, damage barely noticeable from the exterior, did he reveal blood-soaked fabric.

“Make it quick, Major,” James huffed as he continued at a steady but exhausting pace.

Kaidan’s brow furrowed as he donned a pair of gloves and retrieved a small pack of medi-gel. He’d never been tasked with something like this. He was no surgeon, but if he waited any longer, he knew she was going to die. The best solution the heartsick Major could come up with was try to find the problem quickly while minimizing further damage to her tissues where he possibly could. Taking a moment to try and still his shaking hands, he went to work carefully probing the puncture wound she’d sustained in the fight.

“What the hell is happening here?” Garrus growled as he rushed in to meet the ground team. He paused, catching sight of the pale, prone figure no doubt obscured by her fellow soldiers. The turian took a deep breath and crouched down near Kaidan.

“Let me see the suit,” Tali demanded as she took to Shepard’s opposite side and immediately scooped up discarded armor. It made sense, when Kaidan thought about it, that she would be very capable of repairing or modifying a suit to do just about anything. She’d lived in and maintained one of her own for her entire life, after all.

Kaidan felt tears burning behind his eyes as he stole quick glances at Shepard’s still unresponsive face. Guilt tore at him for not being able to protect her, for allowing this to happen, for being unable to fix it. He couldn’t handle watching her die again, but the situation was already heading down that road despite his preparation, experience, and fears.

The scenario seemed hopeless for a long moment before Kaidan’s fingertip brushed something unusual just under Shepard’s skin. It was tiny, nearly undetectable, but he was sure he’d felt an object that wasn’t supposed to be there. Carefully tracking it with both of his hands, he managed to coax it out through the puncture wound with slow sliding motions along her torso. He could have jumped for joy when it emerged and landed in his fingers, but he was already too exhausted for that to be a possibility.

“Is that it? That’s what brought her down?” Garrus asked as he eyed the tiny electronic device Kaidan had pulled from the Commander’s wound. The Major’s hands were slick with blood and medi-gel, but there was an obvious foreign object resting in his palm. It was clearly synthetic in origin, but there was no way to know for sure if it was the offending implement causing the interference with Shepard’s implants.

“I’m making a few adjustments. EDI should be able to better track and respond to what’s going on when we reassemble the suit,” Tali explained, not bothering to look up from what she was doing.

Despite a remarkably short time passing since Shepard’s clash with the Cerberus operative, Kaidan could see the fatigue creeping over James. It was likely adrenaline fueling him now, but knowing him, he wasn’t going to give up on her any time soon. Kaidan understood the sentiment well.

“Come on, Shepard,” Kaidan quietly pleaded as he patched up the wound on her side. He remembered sitting at her bedside after her encounter with the beacon on Eden Prime. They were the same words he’d used back then, hoping that she could hear them, but the feeling was entirely different now. He needed her to listen. He needed her to come back.

Garrus, meanwhile, was already at work examining and analyzing the tiny, synthetic device that had been pulled from Shepard’s wound. He said nothing just yet, but he did seem rather fascinated and engrossed in the minescule contraption.

“Done. Get it back on her,” Tali announced, scrambling to reassemble the suit. “Lieutenant, you’re going to have to stop if this is going to work.”

The expression on James’ face shifted noticeably as he very reluctantly stopped CPR and leaned back to give the quarian room to lock the armor in place again. He kept his eyes glued to Shepard’s, and Kaidan saw his own bewilderment reflected in the visage of the Lieutenant. “Do we need an electrical shock or something to get her heart going?”

Kaidan had only just finished temporarily closing and covering the wound before the armor was moved in to cover it all over again, as though none of this had ever happened. He hoped he’d done enough. Despair weighed heavily on him as he scrambled to decipher what he should do next. All of that medical training hadn’t quite prepared him for a scenario like this.

“Not unless you intend to fry her cybernetics for good, Lieutenant,” came the quick reply of one Dr. Karin Chakwas. She swept her omni-tool over Shepard’s now re-armored silhouette and scanned the results at lightning speed.

“In order to run diagnostics and restart the programming, everyone will have to stand clear of the Commander,” EDI declared. Kaidan had barely realized that he’d been holding Shepard’s hand, maybe for his own comfort more than hers, as he rose to stand with everyone else. He reluctantly released his grip, the color draining from his face as he stood back and surveyed the scene. She looked dead.

Dr. Chakwas gave him a sympathetic look with a pat on the arm as they waited for what felt like an eternity for EDI to handle the unfathomably complicated task of re-establishing the implants that kept Shepard alive. Silence fell over everyone as they stared, unsure of exactly what sort of response might come, if any.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dust settles, the puzzle is pieced together, and recovery begins.

Shepard’s body arched up violently from the ground, completely out of her control, and a collective gasp was all that greeted her again for a moment in the waking world.

“It is safe to approach–” chimed EDI’s calm tone. The statement hadn’t finished before she thought she felt herself being gathered up into familiar arms.

“This thing isn’t causing any interference with any of my electronics, even though it still has power and is functional,” came a familiar turian voice as hurried steps carried her elsewhere. “Looks like it really was designed specifically to shut down Shepard from the inside.”

The ailing woman stirred feebly, instinctively trying to gain her bearings and get back on her feet for the next fight. There was always another fight.

“I’m here. I’ve got you,” Kaidan murmured in her ear. The Commander immediately stilled and allowed darkness to wash over her.

\-----

Shepard remembered screaming. She wasn’t exactly the type to shriek in fear or surprise, so it struck her as very strange and distant, almost dreamlike. Why had that happened? Had it been real? What might have caused such an odd reaction?

Her eyelids felt so heavy, like she hadn’t the strength to open them.

Her still-reeling mind tried to piece it all together. She’d last been with Kaidan and Vega. They’d been exploring a station after investigating a distress call that, for all intents and purposes, had been real. Cerberus had gotten involved and it had ended in a firefight. That scenario had happened so many times to her at this point, she wondered how she’d landed… wait, where was she now?

Her fingers twitched, but her arms felt like lead weights.

The phantom. Shepard remembered going toe-to-toe with an infuriatingly quick Cerberus operative. She’d been ready. She’d been relatively comfortable and confident. Had something happened then that she hadn’t expected?

She tried to sit up, only to realize that her chest felt like it had been crushed. In fact, her entire body hurt.

All in a flash, the Commander recalled those final moments in the battle. The phantom had taken a swing with its sword and missed, twisting its torso in just such a manner that she’d decided to take advantage of the opening. She swung her omni-blade open and plunged it into the enemy’s back, straight through its shields, but not before realizing that she was also being stabbed. She’d remembered a sharp, thin, probe-like tip protruding from the opposite side of the phantom’s sword hilt. While the usual blade of the weapon hadn’t been aimed at her, the back end had been outfitted with some sort of dangerous implement she’d never seen, and it had hit its mark.

That explained the pain in her side, she realized as she tried and failed to move her legs. She could feel them, but she was so tired. She felt as though she’d been run over by a Mako.

Shepard relaxed once more, listening to what was happening around her. Soft beeps and the gentle hum of the Normandy’s drive core suggested the med bay, if she guessed right. She’d been in there enough through her travels to know it by sound alone.

She remembered stumbling backwards in the fight, still watching that strange weapon retract back into the hilt of the sword. The phantom crumpled, and she had followed suit through no action of her own. It had struck her as strange that she might be so injured from such a small wound, but even before she could say a word, all control had been robbed of her. That’s where the scream had come into play, though she wasn’t entirely sure where it had originated. She’d seen Kaidan, the fear in his eyes, and heard the raspiness of his voice as he tried to help. While she had intended to assure him that she was okay, she hadn’t been able to stop the tremors that suddenly took over like a wave. Her entire body had rebelled against her and she was wracked with burning pain.

There wasn’t much in her memory beyond that. She last recalled feeling terrible for Kaidan, because he looked and sounded horrified, and there was not a thing she’d been able to do about it. She’d had only a moment to wonder if this was how she was going to die and feel regret for leaving him in such a terrible predicament… again… before she blacked out.

Clearly she hadn’t perished or else she wouldn’t have felt so tired and achy. So Shepard was left to wonder what was going on now and fear gripped her heart as she wondered if Kaidan and Vega had made it out safely.

It was then that she felt a very slight pressure shift on the bed next to her. She realized with great relief that she could hear slow, steady breathing. She could feel warmth of a body near her arm. She knew who that was even without seeing him, and it was immensely comforting.

Slowly but surely, the Commander was regaining her faculties. She was still woozy and exhausted, but control over her own body was gradually beginning to return. When she at last was able to open her eyes, even the dim lighting was painful and confusing, but a subtle smile crept across her lips as she glanced down to her side.

It took a bit of concentration, but she managed to lift a weary arm and stroke her fingers lightly through a dark mess of curls. Kaidan flinched, but immediately raised his head from where he’d likely been half-asleep at her bedside.

“Hey, handsome,” she quietly offered, her voice hoarse and groggy.

He stared at her with wide eyes for a moment, and Shepard wasn’t sure what she was reading in his expression. Was he irritated about her wild tactics on the battlefield? Regretful that he hadn’t been able to save those innocent people that Cerberus had killed just before they’d arrived on the station? Distraught over leaving a mission unfinished to get her out safely? He looked so terribly tired and drained, she felt awful for waking him up from what small amount rest he’d been able to get.

Just when Shepard was about to offer an apology for everything she could think of in order to wipe that expression off of his face, he stood and reached for her, peppering her face with gentle but fervent kisses as though he couldn’t stop himself. She breathed a sigh of relief, though it did mix with a little chuckle at his ardent gesture.

He sat back, finally, and stared at his hands as they wrapped protectively around one of hers. He said nothing further for a long while, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. She watched him from beneath heavy eyelids, contemplating how to encourage him to go and get some real sleep when he broke the silence at last.

“Welcome back. How are you feeling?”

“Just following orders, Major, and I’ve been better.”

“I bet,” he answered, the faintest of smirks gracing his lips. “Well, we all made it out reasonably intact, so don’t worry. Cerberus tried to take you down, but thanks to some interesting repairwork to your implants and suit, I doubt it will happen again. You can thank Dr. Chakwas, Tali, EDI, and Miranda for that.”

“Miranda? How did you find her?” If there was anything that Shepard had come to understand, it was that the former Cerberus operative was nearly impossible to track down. She could appreciate, however, that her help would have been needed in such a strange scenario.

Kaidan chuckled and sat up straight, puffing out his chest for dramatic effect. “Specre, remember?”

“Ah. Right. Of course.” She squeezed his hand in hers, though she quickly realized it didn’t yet have its usual strength just yet. “Thank you.”

He sighed as he studied her. The dim lighting made things difficult to discern, but she thought she saw his eyes glistening even in the dark. She tried to think of things to say that would lift his spirits, because she couldn’t stand the thought of him being sad. He simply lifted her hand to his lips and graced it with a kiss.

“Oh,” Shepard responded in a hushed whisper as warmth rose to her cheeks. “All this attention. I might just have to do this more often.”

“Please don’t,” he answered, her hand obscuring the little smile creeping across his lips. “I think we’d all be okay with never having to go through that again.”


End file.
